Battle Royale
by crazyforkpop
Summary: Elwood City is under totalitarian dictatorship. 19 students have been selected to participate in a death game where each student must kill off each other until one survives. Who will make it to the top?
1. Chapter 1

_Elwood City, circa. 2005._

Elwood City in the country of Alamania was under totalitarian dictatorship, as well as a very oppressive regime under the rule of bear president Pete Carleston, but all residents name him "Grand Father". Ironic to the nickname itself, he was the youngest looking "grand father" you have ever seen. He was in his 50s, and despite his superior appearance, he carried out several of the strictest and most undesirable laws you could ever imagine, and arguably the ruler of the most oppressive regime in the world.

And not just the laws stating that you were not free to vote, not free to own private property, not free to have sex except in arrange marriages, not free to do nearly anything, as you could argue.

If you dared object, the sentence would be death, by _beheading_. They would take you to the Spare Room to perform the horrible deed, whilst the stomach-strong jury and lawyers and judge sat there, watching the punishment take place. It was alright for them as the regime has been occurring for 75 years.

You were always under surveillance 24/7. You never knew that every place had installed security cameras, so there was little to no privacy no matter where you go. And these cameras had sound tracking devices, as well as chemoreceptors and thermoreceptors. If you dared lay a finger on them, you would be in the court immediately.

Life at Lakewood Middle School was nevertheless a burden for students. Being shut off completely from the outside world, all news and lesson materials were filtered only through the city.

No one was even looking forward to the future, as after high school, came compulsory labour and military service.

"Are you excited about going to the military?" asked Arthur sarcastically.

"Yeah," responded Buster, "and for the Rulers Party too, there is no other party other than the one and only created by the Grand Father."

"Very true." said Muffy.

"I don't believe that - " Francine began, but remembered that alike everyone in the classroom, she was under surveillance, "the military and labour work would be so fun."

"Very fun." said the Brain sarcastically.

The bell rang, and instantly their teacher, Mr Elkin, came in.

"Good morning class."

"Good morning."

"I have some very good news for you."

The students' eyes widened in surprise.

"We are going on a field trip to the forest!"

The class cheered, finally been given a break from school, which never seemed to be enjoyable.

* * *

The next day, the students headed off for school, but waiting for them nearby was a bus, ready to take them to the forest.

The students hopped in and began practically dancing and prancing around, free from school.

Muffy pulled out her camera and started taking pictures of her friends.

"What a cool camera!" exclaimed Francine.

"What model is it?" asked Sue Ellen.

"A MegaX."

"Where on earth did you get it?" asked Fern.

"My daddy got it for me on my birthday. He said it was intended to be a big surprise."

Whilst they were chatting, Binky, Buster and Arthur were talking to each other.

"Girls...they always talk too much about girly stuff and technology." Binky scoffed.

"Yeah, girls!" agreed Buster.

"I have something even more fun to do." Binky pulled out a container of live worms.

"Binky, no!" protested Arthur.

"Why not? It's fun!" said Binky.

Binky crept up to the girls and poured the worms down the blouse of Muffy's school uniform.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" screamed Muffy.

Francine gritted her teeth. "You will pay for this!"

* * *

Eventually the heated chaos died down and soon all the students were asleep as they drove through a long dark wide tunnel. Everyone, all but one. Arthur woke up with a start, noticing that he was the only one awake.

He walked off his seat and began wandering around the bus, but was stopped by the bus lady, holding a bat.

Arthur tried cowering away but he could only do much so, since the bus was still moving at an insanely fast speed. Without hesitation the lady whacked Arthur in the head with a bat as he passed out on the floor.

* * *

Eventually Arthur woke up in a dark gloomy classroom, and this was definitely not a classroom back at school. He breathed out a sigh of relief, his head was better but still in pain from the hit. As he breathed, he felt something tight and uncomfortable and cold attached to his collar. He touched his neck and felt something cold, hard and metallic. He tried jerking it and twisting it around, but it was perfectly glued to his neck.

"Arthur," wept Buster, "What the hell is this?" he asked referring to the necklace on his neck, "And you have one too?!"

The necklace looked exactly like his own, metal, cold and tight constricting his throat. It was a collar that looked more like a dog collar made out of metal.

"How do I get this off?" complained Francine, "It's stuck tight and I'm the most athletic girl at school!"

"This is so unfashionably atrocious!" wept Muffy, "I can't stand this, it's cutting my neck!"

They did not have to wait that long before the lights turned on, revealing that soldiers were standing in every single corner of the classroom, and in stepped Mr Ratburn.

"Good evening class." said Mr Ratburn in a normal voice, "And welcome back to class."

"Mr Ratburn..." Fern gasped.

"It is a pleasure for all of us to reunite once again as a family," he began, but bellowed, "Now SIT UP STRAIGHT AND LISTEN CAREFULLY!"

Mr Ratburn walked to the blackboard, picked up a piece of chalk and began writing on the board.

"North Korea, China, Japan, Soviet Union, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Libya, Cuba, what do all these countries have in common?" asked Mr Ratburn.

The Brain raised his hand.

"They have all been involved in war or conflict."

"Excellent observation Alan. These countries have been involved in war, and like them, you will be experiencing a war right now, because you have all been invited to the game of..."

Mr Ratburn went back to the board and scrawled an enormous B and R.

"BATTLE ROYALE!"

"As you can see, you will be literally in a battle. Since the world is no good and full of wars, civilians like you need to fight and kill off once another to survive. And this is exactly what you will all be doing in this game of Battle Royale. Yes Muffy?"

"Why are we all here?"

"Because it's all your damned faults. You are all the cause of the crisis happening in this world right now, yet all of you have to live with it and suck it up to survive. If you want to live up to your life expectancy, you must fight off every single student in this room right now, in order to survive. Some way war is peace. And for this we are taking a step forward and following this motto, since you will all be killing each other. A soft spoken, shy and quiet person will never make it into this world. And for that, you will all be participating in this game and giving it your all. Now listen carefully as the rules of this game will be explained to you all."

A soldier switched on the interactive board, being the only electronic device in the room, and started pressing the play button, revealing a footage of Mr Haney.

"Greetings, everyone, and congratulations for having been selected to play in the 2005 Battle Royale. It is my honour to selecting you all to participating in this game and I wish you all the best of luck. What is Battle Royale? It is a game where you must kill off every single student in order to survive. If you want to be the winner and return home, you must kill everyone, even if it is your friend or relative. If you want to live you must be able to do this."

"As you are wondering right now, we are located on a remote island in the middle of the ocean. The island has literally nothing but just forests, beaches, and only five shelters, excluding this classroom, so you may use them as hideouts for defence against weapons."

"And by the way, you are all probably wondering, what is on my neck? Well, it is an electronic collar. It has chemoreceptors, thermoreceptors as well as sound tracking devices so no matter where you go, your teacher will always hear you. They are waterproof and shockproof, so they cannot in any way get damaged. You can forget about taking them off. If you jiggle with them for a prolonged period of time, attempt to rip it off, or disrespect your teacher, he or she has the right to activate it. A red dot and beep will sound, indicating that it will explode and kill you. They are controlled by a special remote control, which is owned by your teacher. If a button of a particular number is pressed, it means that the number represents the student as of the seating plan back at school that is to have their electronic collar exploded, so don't mess with your teacher."

"That's correct!" yelled Mr Ratburn maniacally, holding the remote control.

"You will all be assigned a particular weapon, it could be a knife, axe, sword, you name it. You will be told then which weapon you will have. You also have a map of the island and the compass so you don't have to worry about getting lost. Speaking of that, as this game takes place over THREE DAYS, danger zones will be activated at 6AM, 12PM, 6PM and 12AM. The danger zones will have the bombs planted in the ground activated, so you'd better watch out! There are speakers everywhere in the island so you don't need to worry about whether you are too early or too late to listening for the danger zone locations on the map."

"You also have two bottles of water, a packet of tissues, a bag of food which consists of a loaf of bread, an apple, a bag of potato chips and three chocolate bars. You will need your energy and nourishment if you want to fight."

"All right!" Buster yelled after hearing of the fatty foods, jumping up. An awkward expression eventually crossed his face when no one else responded and continued to stare at the screen.

"Shhhhhh!" hissed Mr Ratburn.

Mr Haney continued, "For the female students, individual toiletries are provided so you don't need to worry about finding a bathroom. We do everything we can to make sure our contestants are fully prepared for the game."

"Any questions?" asked Mr Ratburn, "Arthur?"

"How will we tell our parents?"

"We already notified your parents through phone and email, so don't worry about it. Fern?"

"What if several students remain?"

"Then all collars will explode. So don't even think about resting and helping one another. Francine?"

"Can we go home after this?"

"Yes, only if all the other students are killed."

Mr Ratburn continued the footage.

"A list will be read out, containing the names of all the students and their assigned weapons. When you hear your name, please step forward and collect your necessities."

_#1 Arthur Read - knife_

_#2 Francine Frensky - axe_

_#3 Buster Baxter - gun_

_#4 Muffy Crosswire - bow and arrows_

_#5 Alan Powers - mirror_

_#6 Fern Walters - scalpel_

_#7 Alex Thompson - sword_

_#8 George Lundgren - scythe_

_#9 Jenna Morgan - fan_

_#10 Ladonna Compson - barbed wire_

_#11 Sue Ellen Armstrong - razor_

_#12 Maria Tildas - whip_

_#13 Binky Barnes - ice pick_

_#14 Molly McDonald (exchange student) - matches_

_#15 Rattles Bower (exchange student) - knitting needles_

_#16 Slink Smith (exchange student) - pen_

_#17 Kieper Johnson (exchange student) - electric shaver_

_#18 Billy Jones (exchange student) - chopper_

_#19 Prunella Deegan (exchange student) - strigil_

"Oh," said Mr Ratburn, "I nearly forgot. We have six exchange students joining you. Make sure to keep them in, as they will get to know you better. They are pretty dangerous looking as they have been former gang members, so watch out for them."

"Bring it on, baby!" hollered Billy, clutching his chopper as he swung it in the air maniacally, smiling wickedly.

"Oh Francine," wept Muffy, "You can't die!"

"I'm so scared," cried Fern, "I can't die."

"Arthur," wept Buster, "This may be the last time we ever see each other. I don't wanna die."

"Don't worry," said Arthur, "If we have to die, I'll make sure that we do together. You were more than a friend to me since we were in Lakewood Elementary."


	2. Chapter 2

"But where's Mr Elkin?" interrupted Muffy.

"Oh," said Mr Ratburn. "I forgot. Boys, bring him out."

The students stared in horror as they brought a bloody hospital bed, and removed the blanket to reveal the bloody corpse of Mr Elkin, his antlers bashed off, eyeballs hanging out, and bullet wounds everywhere, staining his clothes red with blood.

"Anyways," continued Mr Ratburn, "You won't have to worry about him anymore. Collect your things. The game begins right now."

**GAME START**

Tonight was the first night of the game. Arthur rushed out the classroom quickly, clenching his knife tightly in his hands.

He examined the entire surroundings, careful not to let the moonlight shine on the knife.

"Arthur!" called a voice from behind.

It was his friend Buster.

"Damn, you scared me!" said Arthur.

"Sorry, Arthur." said Buster.

"I'm so scared!" called another voice.

It was Francine, running up to them.

"From now on, we'll all stick together for this game, hmmm?"

"Okay." they both agreed.

"Francine!" called a voice from above as they continued to walk.

"Muffy!" Francine hollered.

It was Muffy, standing at a slope on one of the hills.

"Hi Francine, I was wondering if I could join your group. That way we would be safe. But how do I use these bows and arrows? They are so unfashionably vomitrocious!"

"I don't know," said Francine, "Despite being an athletic girl I don't have much experience with archery."

"Arthur? Buster?"

"Muffy, look out!" screamed Buster.

"What is it?" asked Muffy.

Muffy nearly slipped off the hill, but before she knew it, a chopper swished straight through her neck, slicing her head off, as it rolled down the hill onto the pavement.

Francine screamed and sobbed in despair as she clenched the severed head in horror, her best friend since second grade.

She then looked up.

It was Billy, one of the Tough Customers, holding the bloodied chopper. He laughed maniacally as he walked away.

"I'll get every one of you losers soon!" he called.

"Run for your lives!" the three friends screamed, leaving the severed head of Muffy and the headless body which Billy threw right next to it.

**#4 Muffy Crosswire - Dead.**

**19th Place**

**1 Down, 18 to Go**

_**I've never had a best friend like you.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur, Buster and Francine hurriedly rushed to a nearby cliff, trying to avoid the danger.

Before Francine knew it, she felt an arrow shoot her arm.

She screamed in pain as she collapsed to the ground.

"Francine, are you okay?" asked Arthur concerned as he removed the bloody arrow off the wound. "Here, have some water."

Arthur gently rolled up the sleeve of Francine's blouse whilst he poured water on the wound and gently washed off the blood.

"Thank you." said Francine. "I'm glad I have friends like you."

"It was nothing." said Buster smiling. "We just all have to stick together."

"Wait a minute," said Francine, "This arrow looks exactly like the one Muffy has been using."

"You're right!" exclaimed Arthur with suspicion. "Someone must have stolen her weapons."

"You don't think that..." began Buster.

He turned around just in time to see the blurred figure of Billy running away from the cliff in the distance.

"Billy..." whispered Arthur, "So that's the one who's getting hard on all of us..."

* * *

"Alien! Alien!" the Tough Customers jeered as they surrounded in a circle around George.

"Look at your ugly antlers." jeered Slink. "Are you gonna whip your head back and forth?"

"Dyslexic loser! Head butter! Doll admirer!" laughed Kieper.

It was not long before Billy lifted his chopper up and one swift go chopped off one of George's antlers.

The Tough Customers all laughed as George's antler fell to the ground, and George's eyes began filling up with tears as he picked up the antler in rage.

"Half antenna head!" jeered Kieper. "Cry baby! Dyslexic loony!"

George would not endure another moment. He gritted his teeth in anger as he screamed out in anger.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he raised the antler and jammed it in both of Kieper's eyeballs. Kieper screamed in pain as his almond eye socks were reduced to red almonds with crimson oozing out of it, whilst Molly, Slink and Binky ran away in fear. "GO AHEAD AND LAUGH AT ME BASTARD! LAUGH! YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN DO ANY OF THAT? NOW IT'S THE FUCKING TIME!"

"Come on," said Billy, hating to admit that he was a little afraid of him, "We'll find more bitches else where." as he started to ran away from Kieper and George.

Kieper lay there blindly, stunned. George had never been so profane before, he was remembered as that awkward boy who loved Wally and would not stop clinging onto it, and was the shy boy who found it hard to make friends. How come all of this was happening to him?

To add to his torture, George snatched the electric shaver from Kieper's belt and instantly shoved it into different parts of his body and face. He turned it on. Like tearing up styrofoam, George leaned down and shaved off Kieper's scalp and face along with the flesh until his head was reduced to a skeleton. He dug the shaver into his brain, sending brain matter to fly where.

With artistic movement, George dug the shaver into the flesh of his throat and shaved it off too, before he stomped on his spine and snapped the skull off his body.

**# 17 - Kieper Johnson - Dead.**

**18th Place**

**2 Down, 17 to Go**

_**Some of you have the nerve to bring me down like this.**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Ladonna," said Sue Ellen, "Let's all stick together with Fern, Jenna, Maria and Prunella, shall we? After all we can at least make amendments and so if we die it can be all of us."

"Sure thing." agreed Ladonna. "Where's Fern?"

"I'll take you there." said Sue Ellen. "Be very careful."

* * *

**12 AM**

"Everyone!"

The students heard Mr Ratburn's voice through the speakers scattered all across the island.

"It's midnight, which means that you can all take a break from killing. You can take a rest, eat or do whatever you want. At the same time, I will be announcing the danger zones, which in case you forgot, will be zones where the bombs planted in the soil will be activated. So listen carefully.

The danger zones are as follows:

A-1

B-3

B-4

D-6

E-11

So don't go there, unless you want to die."

Arthur, Francine and Buster sat together, quickly taking note of the danger zones, whilst staring at the map and compass.

"Where are we?" asked Francine, worried.

"Let's see." said Arthur referring to the map. "According to the compass, we are currently in area E-3."

"Whew!" said Buster wiping sweat off his forehead. "We'd be dead anytime."

"Hope not!" said Arthur.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ladonna, Fern, Sue Ellen, Maria and Prunella were all gathered in an abandoned hut, eating and drinking.

"We're all sticking together from now on, and no matter what, we don't leave anyone behind, okay?" said Fern.

"Okay." they all agreed.

* * *

The Brain was outside, staring at his mirror in frustration.

"What _can_ you do with a mirror?" he thought to himself.

He hesitated until he finally decided.

"I don't believe in superstitions, I don't believe in superstitions." he thought.

He slammed the mirror on the floor until it shattered into pieces.

He stuffed the pieces into his bag as he set off.

* * *

Alex was clenching tightly onto his sword, looking for a place to hide in the forest.

He did not go very far when the wind blew the map out of his hands.

Oh no, he thought. I will never know when I am walking into a danger zone or not.

Some how something motivated him to run around the island, clenching his sword tightly, as he tried to avoid the danger zones.

He kept running and running, until...

BAM.

His foot stepped on an activated bomb, causing his entire body to explode, scattering fragments of flesh and blood spray all over the place, as the sword flung into the air and stabbed a fragment of his flesh on the ground.

**#7 Alex Thompson - Dead.**

**17th Place.**

**3 Down, 16 to Go.**

_**I did this for my family and friends, not just for myself.**_


	5. Chapter 5

"I can't take it anymore." Prunella sobbed as she ran out of the hut.

"Prunella, where are you going?" Sue Ellen asked as she ran after her.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she shrieked.

"Prunella!"

"Just don't talk to me!"

"But why?"

Sue Ellen continued to chase Prunella out until she ended up on the cliff.

"I can't take this anymore, okay?" she screamed as she turned to Sue Ellen.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not playing. I'm leaving. Forever. I'm leaving and I will never play this game again. I'm over with this!"

"PRUNELLA!" Sue Ellen screamed, as Prunella jumped off the cliff. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

But that was it. Prunella jumped off the cliff as her body was pierced by the sharp rocks beneath, whilst the rest of her dead body flew into the sea.

**#19 Prunella Deegan - Dead**

**16th Place**

**4 Down, 15 to Go**

_**Like I could give a damn shit about this rigged game!**_


	6. Chapter 6

George had the antler and scythe stuck in his belt whilst he continued around the island, determined to find more victims. It was easy for him to name some. Some of them bullied him, called him names, and ruined his life! Those moments motivated him that much to seek revenge.

He continued up a mountain trail until he bumped into Slink, all by himself.

"Move it, have antenna head." he spat in George's face.

George continued to stay put.

"I said move it!"

George did not move.

"I'm talking to you, antenna head!"

"Fine." said George as he started to walk away.

As he turned back, George looked down at Slink walking down.

Was this a trick or something? George waited for a few moments until Slink reacted.

No, there was no visible sign of a prank.

Without a moment to waste George pounced on Slink and pressed the blade of the scythe on Slink's throat, sending blood spewing out.

The pain in his throat paralysed him, he was too stunned to do anything right now.

He tried to scream, but his mouth and throat were clogged with so much blood he could barely produce a sound.

"I thought that this scythe was gonna suck." he said as he pressed the scythe deeper through the circumference of his throat. "But experience proved me wrong."

He continued to press the scythe through the circumference of his neck until he successfully sliced off Slink's head, sending it rolling down the mountain trail.

Stamping on Slink's body, spewing out blood from the throat stump as well as crushing several bones and organs, he grinned in satisfaction, before he ran down and dismembered the severed head.

Ripping out his eyeballs and slicing off his ears, nose and tongue with the scythe, he pressed his foot on the head, his white school shirt completely drenched with blood, whilst his navy necktie was absorbing all the red liquid.

"Who are you calling half antenna head..." he scoffed as he sliced off one of Slink's ears, "half antenna head."

He chuckled as he walked away, leaving the body and head behind.

**#16 Slink Smith - Dead**

**15th Place**

**5 Down, 14 to Go**

_**I came here ultimately to win.**_


	7. Chapter 7

The door on the hut of the girls knocked.

"Who's there?" asked Fern.

"It's me, the Brain."

Fern sighed in relief.

"Oh, come in! The door is unlocked!"

Ladonna greeted them. She was cooking some instant fish casserole.

"Hello!" said Ladonna, "Please take a seat."

Brain took a seat on the couch in the hut.

"Maria, would you like to taste test this for me?" asked Ladonna, bringing a spoonful of casserole out. "I need to make sure I have an assistant to make amendments, so that I don't spread germs through saliva."

Maria stood up and took a generous sip.

"Mmmmmmm..." she exclaimed. "This is good!"

"Thank you." said Ladonna, feeling complimented. "I'm glad for the first time you guys can appreciate my cooking."

Maria was enjoying the taste until she felt a weird pain in her belly.

"Oh," she moaned, "I feel strange."

She felt as if a parasite was crawling in her body. She only ended up hyperventilating even more and heaving and gagging, trying to get in as much breath as she could. But it was too late.

Before she knew it, she felt the casserole coming back up to her.

All of a sudden, she began to spew out blood all over the place. The girls watched in shock as a waterfall of blood poured out of her mouth, and she landed face flat on the floor.

"Maria!" they shrieked.

**#12 Maria Tildas - Dead.**

**14th Place**

**6 Down, 13 to Go**

_**I didn't think that the world would suddenly close up on me.**_

"Ladonna, what the hell!" Fern shrieked. "What the hell did you put in it?"

"I swear, just the casserole and water! The water here must be contaminated! I guess drinking tap water is against the rules so they contaminated it to prevent us from cheating so we could only use bottled water.

"You lying skanky semen drinking whore!" Fern shrieked as she leapt on Ladonna.

Ladonna wrapped the barbed wire around Fern's legs, trying to make it burst, but Fern pulled out of her skirt pocket the scalpel and immediately began stabbing her continuously in the heart until she was lifeless and she could not move anymore.

She removed the scalpel from the severed heart as she cleansed it and undid the wire around her leg.

**#10 Ladonna Compson - Dead.**

**13th Place**

**7 Down, 12 to Go**

**_I just like to make up stories to get attention and make new amendments._**


	8. Chapter 8

**6 AM**

"Good morning students." said Mr Ratburn in a cheery voice as his voice came through the speakers. "Did you all sleep well? I hope you did. You'll need your sleep if you want to continue to fight. Go and eat your breakfast whilst I announce the new danger zones, so listen carefully.

The danger zones are as follows:

A-5

B-10

C-1

C-2

C-3

F-9

H-1."

Arthur, Buster and Francine took quick note of the danger zones.

"Let's go." said Buster as they leapt off to find a safer place.

They continued until they saw Fern, Jenna and Sue Ellen walking up the mountain trail.

"Where could they be going?" they wondered.

The three friends followed up the mountain trail.

Buster was walking up until he was pinned down by the Brain, smiling evilly at him, as he placed a foot on his shirt, smudging his school shirt with black and dirt.

"Hmmmmm..." said the Brain with a wicked smile as he pulled out from his bag a mirror shard, "According to the laws of trigonometry, the square of sine theta plus the square of cosine theta make 1, whilst cosine 2 theta is the square of cosine theta minus the square of sine theta. Isn't that great? Oh boy, the beauty of mathematics! And they are exactly telling me that if I throw the piece at a bearing of 135 degrees, I can succeed. Actually no matter which angle I throw them in, at least when I'm through with this game I will get into a good high school and university so I can be exempted from military and labour service unlike you pathetic losers out there who have nothing better to do than being caught up with a girlfriend."

Buster struggled, gasping as the Brain was smiling and laughing maliciously as he raised it, but then Buster remembered his gun, which he dropped.

Reaching as far as possible, he finally grabbed hold of the gun.

At a perfect angle, he shot the Brain right through the heart as he dropped the mirror shard, accidentally piercing Buster's leg, making him scream in pain.

"Buster!" screamed Arthur. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." said Buster, moaning from the pain of the stab wound in his leg.

"Hang in there." said Arthur, pouring water on his wound. "You'll be alright."

They continued up the mountain trail.

They dodged bushes and trees until they heard shouting from a far away place.

"Arthur! Francine! Buster!" the voices shouted.

"Who was that?" asked Francine.

"I dunno." said Buster.

"Arthur! Francine! Buster! Over here!" the voices called again.

"It's Sue Ellen, Fern and Jenna!" exclaimed Arthur. "Let's find them!"

They continued to run up the trail until the finally reached the top of the hill.

"Well, can you see anybody?" asked Francine.

"No I can't." said Buster.

"Look!" said Arthur pointing to three figures down at a hill below. "There they are!"

"Arthur! Buster! Binky!" the three from down below called, waving their bags in the air. "Yoo-hoo! Come down here! We don't wanna fight! We wanna make peace!"

"We'll be right there!" Arthur hollered back.

"Don't worry," called Francine, "We'll be there!"

"We'll team up with you!" Buster shouted back.

Before Fern, Jenna and Sue Ellen could wait in relief, Jenna and Sue Ellen felt their bodies being cut up into pieces with a chopper.

Fern screamed in horror as she began to run away, dodging the chopper revealed to be Billy, who was attacking them with the chopper. Luckily she was alive and out of sight before Billy could do anything else.

**#5 Alan Powers, #9 Jenna Morgan, #11 Sue Ellen Armstrong - Dead**

**12th/11th/10th Place**

**10 Down, 9 to Go**

_**According to my calculations, I believed that there was a near end for me. (Alan)**_

_**God, can you ever fall for anything worse? (Jenna)**_

_**I was not just the new girl. I was the new special girl. (Sue Ellen)**_


	9. Chapter 9

**12 PM**

"Alright students." said Mr Ratburn's voice. "It's lunchtime, so go eat your lunch. As you know, I will be announcing the danger zones.

A-13

B-4

B-5

B-6

C-10

D-7

E-4

K-12."

Arthur, Buster and Francine took quick note of this as they recorded the danger zones.

They sat down and had a picnic on the land.

* * *

**6 PM**

Molly was walking around when Fern approached her.

"Who's there?" Molly asked, ready to strike fire with her matches, since she did not have a proper weapon.

"It's me, Fern." said Fern.

"Ugh, you're another of those intruders who sided with Muffy, aren't you?"

"Ummm, I guess so, but there was something I wanted to ask you, if I don't mind."

Molly stood there, very surprised, but she was not doing any harm to her, so she decided to give her a chance.

"Fine, go ahead."

"Molly, is it true that you joined the Tough Customers because you felt that they were your only friends to socialize with and since your younger brother James was born your parents stopped loving you?"

"Wow, how did you know that?"

"Rumours that have been spreading around the school seemed to have told me so. Just out of curiosity, I just wanted to see what it was like if the rumours were true or not."

"As absurd as it seem, they were true. My younger brother James was getting all the attention by the time I was 5 and he was born then. Since then my parents were all on him. I thought that it was just that babies needed a lot of care, but as time passed, I thought wrong. It seemed as if I did not exist. My presents didn't buy me any gifts on my birthday, they only spoiled James only because in their eyes he was a 'cute adorable little' fellow. Just thinking about him makes me crazy."

"So that's why you seemed to be so rabid - I mean strange? Sorry, but - "

"No, no, it's fine." said Molly, consoling her. "I understand. I felt history begin to repeat itself. I just couldn't hold in my emotions like that, I had to let it out some day. I thought that when I went to school and joined the Tough Customers doing what we were interested in, I thought that things would go our way, until, that moment - do you remember the moment where Muffy wanted the jungle gym all to herself? She reminded me of what was going on in my family - sharing was non-existent, just as it was in my family. History began to repeat itself."

"When you saw the other third graders?"

"Yes. These third graders to me were so pesky that they reminded me of James. All kids are kids. They are like James. They act so rowdy and try to get as much attention as possible. But I was rewarded bad luck, I didn't get attention. But when I joined the Tough Customers, since they have come from sad backgrounds too, I thought that it was nice to mingle with people who were just like me."

"Wow, Molly, I can't help but feel sorry for you. I'm sorry for thinking that you were a ruthless bitch all my life."

"It's okay Fern. Sometimes our personalities are the consequences of bad things that happened in the past to us. That's psychology, weird yet true. And to tell you the truth, I wanted to be your friends and you know, socialise with you, but I thought you were mindlessly pesky and you were too afraid to mingle with people who have come from background like me."

"I see."

"So you don't hate me anymore?"

"No, of course not. I was just curious, because...Molly look out!"

"What?"

Molly turned and screamed as she saw Billy holding the chopper.

Molly was dying as Billy stabbed and cut her with the chopper, as blood flowed out her, and the pieces scattered all over the place.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Fern. "Molly..." she wept as she knelt beside the pieces.

But before she knew it, Billy jammed the chopper into her back, leaving her to bleed beside her body.

**#14 Molly McDonald, ****#6 Fern Walters - Dead**

**9th/8th Place**

**12 Down, 7 to Go**

_**I just didn't want to be a loser. (Molly)**_

_**Being in this world was more than anything for me. (Fern)**_


	10. Chapter 10

Binky was walking until he bumped into Rattles.

"Rattles?"

"Binky?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Uhhhh...sure."

"Rattles, you know when I founded the Tough Customers, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Do you remember how we joined it together because we thought that we could use it to take advantage of others?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I just wanted to know about this rumour I heard at school, is it true that your father abandoned you as a child?"

"Wow, how did you know about this? The rumours spread that much?"

"I heard it from rumours." Binky continued. "Did you decide to become a bully like me because you thought it was your only way to express your emotions?"

"Yeah." said Rattles. "Going back to the point my dad abandoned me as a kid. My dad was an alcoholic and would smash and break things and batter my mother and I, yet my mother would not react to this until he left. He also feared that I would become a sissy, so he would force me to do boxing with him. Of course I bled very frequently, but I did not complain, and I thought that my joining your group it would prove my dad wrong, and show him I am not a sissy. Were you just like me then?"

"Yeah. I thought that my parents were treating me like a baby too much. I had issues with them sometimes because they make me that mad some - wait no. I actually love butterflies, ballet, dance and knitting just like you. I feared that because of my weight, everyone expected me to be a wrestler and punch and kick people and make me a bully. It drove me to the point where I felt like I was pressured. I never told my parents about this because I thought it was just a petty thing, but..." Binky was sobbing as he was tearing up.

"It's okay, Binky." said Rattles, rubbing his shoulders, "At least we understand each other."

"I just regret those years I lashed out at my parents like that. I thought the pressure was just petty. I was scared to tell anyone my natural interests, except my parents, who loved and cared about me. Now that I know that you understand, I'm glad I have someone to talk to."

"Me too," agreed Rattles, "I was scared to tell everyone about my interest in knitting and crafts because I feared everyone will laugh at me. But there's something I really wanted to tell you."

"What is that?"

Rattles leaned forward and kissed Binky vigorously on the lips, whilst tears streamed out his eyes.

"Rattles?"

"That. I wanted to tell you. I loved you. I was scared to tell you so, because since you were the leader of the Tough Customers I thought you'd ridicule my words. I loved you. I was scared to admit that I was gay, and it was epic fail when I did so confessing to my mom. She grew ashamed of me, and would not give much glances at me then."

"It's okay, Rattles." said Binky, consoling him.

"So...do you love me?"

Binky was stunned, horrified at his words. He could not help but feel sorry for him just as much as Rattles did, but that was not enough for him to have romantic feelings for him.

"Look, Rattles," said Binky, "Now that I know you better, I understand that you are genuine a decent guy, but...Rattles, look out!"

Billy was standing behind him, holding the chopper.

Rattles stared in horror as Billy began slicing him into pieces with the chopper.

"RATTLES!" shrieked Binky, his eyes fill of tears.

In rage, Binky took out his ice pick and jammed it in Billy's back continuously until he spewed out blood.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he screamed, "TRY ME! TRY MEEEEEEEEHHHH! YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN BEAT ME NOW? HUHH? YOU THINK THAT NOW BECAUSE YOU ARE A TOUGH CUSTOMER YOU ARE MORE SUPERIOR THAN EVEN US? DIE! DIE! DIEEEEEEEEEEE!"

He screamed in anger and frustration as he stabbed Billy to death.

**#15 Rattles Bower, ****#18 Billy Jones - Dead.**

**7th/6th Place**

**14 Down, 5 to Go**

_**I wanted to be something big. I thought I'd be afraid to show it. (Rattles)**_

_**I could give a shit about this game, yet others can fuck with me in eternity if they wanted to. (Billy)**_


	11. Chapter 11

**12 AM**

Binky knelt down, sobbing by the corpse of Rattles until Arthur, Buster and Francine ran over to him.

"Binky, are you okay?" asked Arthur.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay, we all stick together as a four, okay?"

Arthur squinted in the distance until he managed to see a computer at the bottom of the hill.

Arthur beckoned the three to go over, and put a finger to his lips, warning them never, ever to make a sound.

They finally reached the computer, and Arthur began typing:

_Our electronic collars have tracking devices so they can hear whatever we say, or whatever noise we make._

_From now on, never talk until I gesture you that it's okay to do so._

Arthur turned back, the three giving him a thumbs-up.

_Now don't get over excited._

_If we can find the following items, we will be able to hack into the computer system so they won't hear us anymore, and at least deactivate the tracking devices, even if we cannot remove our electronic collars for now._

_Find the following items on the land:_

_Pesticide_

_Oil_

_Garden Shears_

_Water_

_Dynamite_

_Matches_

_Good luck._

The four began searching around the island.

* * *

Meanwhile, George was all on his own, looking for the remaining four, determined to win the game.

Arthur, Buster, Francine and Binky continued to search the island until they finally found the items they were looking for.

Working together as a team, they created an explosive device that would emit chemicals destroying the computer network, therefore hacking the system.

* * *

The system was hacked eventually, deactivating the system.

"What the hell is going on here?!" the soldiers shrieked.

"I dunno." said Mr Ratburn. "Some hacker must have invaded the system."

"What do we do?" they asked.

"I'm afraid we have no choice but to switch the power off and on again and re-insert the data into the system." said Mr Ratburn.

The soldiers groaned in frustration as they reluctantly did so.

* * *

"We did it!" cheered Arthur, high-fiving Buster.

"I'm proud of you guys." said Francine, giving Arthur a kiss.

Arthur blushed. It was his first kiss. With Francine.

"And sorry about the worm incident." said Binky.

"Awwww shucks." said Francine, "All people are like that, so what. That was just a petty thing. It couldn't possibly have affected all of - Binky look out!"

"Huh?"

Binky turned around to see George swinging his scythe over Binky's head.

Binky fell to the floor, screaming in pain.

George continued to slit and stab Binky until his body was drenched red with blood and he lay there face flat motionless.

"No," sobbed Buster, kneeling before him, but George pinned him to the ground and stabbed him continuously with the scythe.

"George!" Francine screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

She hated to kill George, considering that he was quiet and was a nice guy, but she couldn't have him kill one of her friends.

Taking a risk, she took her axe and chopped George's head off.

**#8 George Lundgren, #13 Binky Barnes - Dead**

**5th/4th Place**

**16 Down, 3 to Go**

_**I thought that I was that shy I couldn't make it this far. (George)**_

_**I've never felt so warm being surrounded by school friends. (Binky)**_


	12. Chapter 12

Buster lay on the ground, heaving and panting from the pain in his stab wound.

"Binky..." sobbed Francine, "No...he's dead..."

"Buster! Buster!" hollered Arthur, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." whispered Buster, obviously paralysed from the wounds. "I'll be fine."

"Here, have the rest of this water." said Francine, as she gently poured it on Buster's wounds. "It will help with the pain."

"What pain?" scoffed Buster. "I've endured worse pain than..." Buster was about to go for another word when he sank back down with a cry.

Francine and Arthur worked as they gently cleaned as much blood as they could off Buster's stab wounds.

"Have some chocolate." said Arthur. "You'll love it very much. The good thing about it is that it will bring back your energy and reduce panic. Here."

Arthur took a small chunk off the chocolate bar and put it in Buster's mouth.

Buster let the sweetness of the milk chocolate melt in his mouth, grinning in satisfaction.

"It's delicious..." he mumbled with a weak smile.

"We can't kill each other anymore." said Francine. "Let's see if we can get the hell out of this game as soon as possible."

"Hang in there Buster." said Arthur as he placed Buster piggybacking on his shoulders. "We'll be right there. The sun is rising so this will determine our fate. If we die, we'll die altogether, since we are friends."

"We'll rush you to the hospital once we leave this island, Buster." said Francine. "Don't worry."

* * *

**6 AM**

The soldiers were dismissed from the island, as the game was coming to an end.

By 6 AM, the three have already arrived back at the school, where their meeting point was exactly.

"Ok guys." said Francine. "Arthur, Buster, you both fake your deaths, and collapse by the time you arrive in the classroom. We'll work out the plan, we'll leave as a group."

"Okay." the two agreed.

Mr Ratburn watched as Buster, Arthur and Francine entered the classroom, and Buster and Arthur collapsed on the floor.

"Mr Ratburn," said Francine with fake guilt, "I killed them all. What do I do now?"

Mr Ratburn took a long pause at Francine.

"It pains me to see the three of you reduced to this. You three were my favourite students. You three were so sweet to me, did what I told you to do, and never provoked me in anyway. You are much better off than my ex-wife and ex-children, who never treated me like a father. I divorced them for good so that they could get out of my life. I honestly thought that the moment I saw you all, you were all like sons and daughter to me. And for that, if I was to die with someone...it would be you...Francine."

Mr Ratburn went back to the blackboard, which was covered in a thick white cloth.

He pulled off the white cloth, revealing the black board with the school photographs painted in red crosses and crossed out names of students who were killed in the game, whilst on the other side were photographs and the names written on the blackboard of Arthur, Francine and Buster, being the ones who genuinely survived.

He returned to an easel, draped in white cloth and removed in, revealing a gruesome painting of the island, with sixteen of the students using all sorts of weapons to kill off one another, through beheading, chopping, skinning and so on, making blood spurt out their body, whilst in the centre sitting inside a blossomed flower were the smiling figures of Arthur, Francine and Buster all holding hands together.

"If I had to choose to die with two or more people, it would be you guys. I have done what I needed to do, so there is nothing to stop right now. And for that, Francine..." he said whilst deactivating their collars and throwing a gun to Francine, "Go ahead and shoot me. I've lived a shitty life, so I've done everything I could. Go ahead. Shoot me."

Francine grasped the gun, hesitating.

"Oh no, Mr Ratburn," said Francine, sobbing, "I can't do that. I respected you as a teacher, I don't have the heart to do this."

"Come on." said Mr Ratburn. "You can do it. Go ahead and shoot me. By the way, the boat that will take you home is waiting for you by the port, so once you're done, you can go."

Francine stood there, hesitating, whilst Arthur and Buster were still determined to get out of Mr Ratburn's crazy and twisted game, which their lives have been depending on.

Arthur snatched the gun from Francine and shot Mr Ratburn right in the head.

Francine breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you Arthur." she whispered. "We could leave this damned game without feeling hesitant and guilty."

Mr Ratburn's eyelids began to flutter and then close as he whispered his last words.

"I've always thought of you as a daughter, Francine. You were my favourite student in the class and I always wanted to find some sort of solution into getting to know you and have better relationship with you in secret despite my classroom having so many students. I have never genuinely experienced what it was like to be loved back by a child, but now thanks to your participation in this game, I finally got to look at you as if you were my virtual daughter. And for that, I am thankful to you, and for the rest of you, you can go."

Mr Ratburn's mouth eventually shut as he arms and legs fell back flat on the floor.

Feeling much loser, Arthur, Francine and Buster ripped off their electronic collars, now deactivated, and threw it on Mr Ratburn's corpse.

They set out the classroom and walk across the hills.

The sky was cloudless blue, the grass was green and the sun was shining.

Yet it was not long before they found the pier.

* * *

They boarded the boat, and stared out the window as they left the island.

"As much as I hate to admit it, it's such a beautiful island." said Francine, "It's such a beautiful island, even though that is where everybody else, including our friends and classmates died."

"Arthur, Francine." said Buster, even more faintly. "I've never had best friends like you."

"I'm glad that we are friends." said Arthur and Francine. "Don't worry, we're proud of you. We're proud that you're so strong and you made it all the way to the end with us. I'm glad that we've have friendship since kindergarten."

"There were a lot of fun times," said Arthur, "Even the silly ones where you guys made fun of me when I wore glasses but gotten over it after watching that Bionic Bunny episode..."

"Oh, we were kids." said Francine, "Kids say the stupidest things sometimes."

Buster looked up at the beautiful sky, and a tear ran down his face, as he felt his eyes shut.

"Francine...Arthur...I'm glad that we've worked altogether as a team."

Arthur sighed in relief, having accomplished Mr Ratburn's twisted game.

**GAME OVER**

**WINNERS - #1 Arthur Read, #2 Francine Frensky, #3 Buster Baxter (deceased)**

_**I'm glad that we've worked altogether as a team. (Buster)**_

* * *

**WANTED ON SUSPICION OF MURDER:**

**Arthur Read, Francine Frensky**

**Reward: $1,000,000**

* * *

**3 MONTHS LATER:**

**ARTHUR'S POV**

Buster died peacefully on the boat before he could come back home again, however I have reunited with Francine once again. We got extreme makeovers, so that no one would recognise us.

Despite all of this, we are still Arthur and Francine inside. Once we have accomplished all the intensive and complicated documents in order to leave this damned country, we plan to leave, find a better life out this totalitarian state, and hopefully live a good life then, since we are friends, as well as lovers, and it's no secret.

Even if our friends died, they are still with us inside, even after their mourning, even after their funerals.

We still have our axe and knife, but only for emergency cases, if anyone dares to mess with us, then we know exactly what to do.

Hopefully when we leave, we can have a good life then, get married, and have a happy family.

We have no choice but to run and keep moving forward.

I take Francine's hand, and run up north.

No matter what happens, run for all that you're worth. Keep going and never give up.

**RUN.**


End file.
